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Wednesday, 4 January 2012

Why is it always Arsenal that can't tie things up?

Wenger - not being helped by those in adminstration

Why is it that most Arsenal transfer dealings in recent years have dragged on? It seems that ever since we went in to overtime to sign Arshavin every transfer seems to be drawn out in some way. The dealings in the final hour of August 31st show that deals can be done and dusted in no time at all, so what's holding up Thierry Henry's dotting of the i's and crossing of the t's? Thierry was supposed to play in the Reserves today at London Colney. In his absence a strong Arsenal team went down 2-0 to a rather weaker Sunderland outfit. The reason Henry wasn't involved was that there is still a problem with his insurance paperwork. This is the same problem that we were told of on Friday morning. The newspapers seem to indicate that it is a problem at the New York end of the deal, but I can't believe things couldn't have been ironed out by now by Arsenal - we should have had all this done in mid-December, for God's sake, so that Thierry would have been available to play at Fulham two days ago.The plan, as far as I could see, was for Henry to play a good chunk of the game this afternoon, so that he would be available to start on Monday evening against Leeds. Having not played he will most likely start the game on the bench next week. This brings with it another problem. We will surely start with one, or both, of Chamakh and Park (who played the whole game today) up-front. If they, or the team, get off to a slow start, or chances are missed, the crowd will then chant louder and louder for Henry. This will do neither Arsenal, nor those two strikers, any good on the night. As much as I go on about Arsene Wenger and his various failings, I have to think he is not being helped enough by those behind the scenes. The way that the transfer dealings constantly seem to drag their feet can not be good for the Manager and his planning. You could argue, I suppose, that Arsene spends so little money that those who deal with transfer paperwork are a bit out of practise, but I'm sure you can see where I'm coming from. We have enough problems without making things more difficult for ourselves. Given that we need more players in than Thierry Henry, I hope that the people responsible get plenty of practise in January, but I won't hold my breath waiting for Wenger to spend.